I love writing about topics that spark my curiosity, which dovetails nicely with what I am covering here: Millennial workplace trends, corporate renegades, and pop culture. I grew up in Oregon, and currently live in New York City. I love all things business and admire the entrepreneurs who are able to transform their dreams into profit.

How Adults Have Hijacked Halloween From Kids

Halloween used to be THE kid holiday. The one day each year when children were granted permission to stay up late, dress as their favorite superhero or princess, and eat unlimited amounts of free treats. Lots of candy: trick-or-treaters receive an average of 90.9 pieces, according to the American Dental Association and PopCap Games.

Hence, it makes sense that Millennials would want to continue to enjoy Halloween festivities. They may not be able to go door-to-door seeking candy — Americans believe age 14 is when children need to stop trick-or-treating, according to RetailMeNot — but that doesn’t mean they can’t find other ways to celebrate Halloween and fund their own sugar rushes.

This prolonged adolescence has transformed Halloween from a kid-centric holiday into an $8 billion a year industry for kids young…and old. In fact, two in three adults feel Halloween is a holiday for them and not just kids, says DDB Worldwide. “On one hand, it’s changed for children because of security concerns,” says Denise Delahorne of DDB Worldwide. “Church groups are hosting trunk parties in their parking lots where kids go from car to car getting their candy instead of going door-to-door.” Plus, obesity concerns have put a damper on the candy allotment. Now, kids go trick-or-treating during the daytime and receive healthy treats. Yippee?

At least kids are still able to dress up — princess (10%), Batman (5%), and Spider-Man (5%) are the three most popular costumes this year, according the National Retail Federation (NRF) and BIGInsight. Oops — costumes are out as well. A Seattle, Washington, elementary school is just the latest to ban students from wearing Halloween costumes.

Meanwhile, it’s a different world for adults. Some 13% of Americans ages 18-44 say Halloween is their favorite holiday, reports DDB Worldwide. Many companies allow, and even encourage employees to wear costumes. Six million adults plan to dress as a witch this year, and 3.2 million will dress as vampires, say NRF and BIGInsight. One million will dress as some type of athlete, and 767,000 will wear a politically-inspired costume.

“There are several reasons [for its adult popularity],” says Delahorne. “There’s no stress to it. You don’t have to travel or deal with relatives. There’s not the holiday pressure to find a date if you are single. You can wear whatever you want and not be judged. There’s the fantasy, role-play element. If you think about it, it’s surprising that 90% of people don’t feel it’s their favorite holiday.”

Adult Halloween lovers also possess supernatural beliefs not shared by those who don’t enjoy dressing up as Honey Boo Boo. Two in three of those who love Halloween believe in ghosts, 33% claim to have actually seen a ghost, and 28% believe people can really put a curse on someone that works, says DDB Worldwide. “I can’t tell if it’s the chicken or the egg,” says Delahorne. “That those who believe in ghosts are more likely to love Halloween or vice versa. There’s just a certain kind of person who thinks that anything is possible. Millennials, in particular, seem to embrace this willy-nilly anything goes [mindset].”

Although pumpkins remain essential, Halloween decorations have become more elaborate now that adults have taken over Halloween. One in two Americans expect to decorate their home or yard, spending an average $19.79 per person to do so, according to the NRF. “It used to be you bought a pumpkin, carved it and put it on the stoop. That’s it,” says Delahorne. “Now, you see cobwebs on the trees, witches and tombstones in the yard, and gigantic spiders. The commercial side [of Halloween] has really fueled the popularity.”

Halloween’s creep also extends to pets, who may not quite love the holiday as much as their owners because they don’t get a say about dressing up. Americans will spend $370 million on pet costumes, with pumpkin (13%), devil (7%), and hot dog (6%) as the most popular transformations, according to the NRF and BIGInsight. Only 1% plan to dress their pet as either a ladybug or clown.

Although Thanksgiving and Christmas may show up at retailers earlier each year, it seems Halloween may have to fool Mother Nature in order to bump up its roll-out schedule. “I certainly don’t want to see Jack O’ Lantern’s in July,” says Delahorne. “But thankfully pumpkins don’t start to ripen until late September. Unless they can figure out how to change that, I think we’re spared from seeing Halloween become a summer holiday.”

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It seems like adults have hijacked – or otherwise contorted – a lot of the holidays in the past decade or two. Holidays used to be fun days to get excited about or to acknowledge a religious/historical happening, but now they’re blown out of proportion to the point of total craziness. Is there a remedy?

As a millennial, I can tell you that I still love Halloween. It is tough to give up the fun of hollidays past. It goes with the whole prolonged adolescence them of our generation. I don’t see any harm in it. I personally don’t have any kids, so if I want to dress up, and have an excuse to party with some friends or go to a bar and enjoy myself, why is that such a terrible thing?

We are always looking for excuses to celebrate, so to me it is very natural that we have “hijacked” Halloween. The world seems to be increasingly gloomy, so any reason that people can find to enjoy themselves, should be encouraged.